The present invention relates to the removal of marking tapes that function as lane dividers on roads, airport runways, parking lots, bicycle paths or other paved surfaces. More particularly the present invention relates to machines that are designed to remove such marking tapes from roads, airport runways, parking lots, bicycle paths and other paved surfaces.
Often during the construction, reconstruction, repair or maintenance of paved surfaces mobile or pedestrian travel patterns must be shifted or redirected to allow for uninterrupted and safe movements through such project sites. Before the introduction of removable tapes permanent marking paints/materials were used. Removal of such permanent markings is a slow operation. Among the methods used to remove permanent markings are grinding, milling, shot blasting, sand blasting and water blasting. Each of these removal methods causes undesirable damage to the paved surfaces.
Removable temporary marking tapes were developed in the late 1970's to the early 1980's. The quality of these tapes has improved continually. Initial application of these removable marking tapes was slow and labor intensive. Over time methods of applying these removable tapes have improved lowering the amount of physical labor and time required to apply them.
Removing removable temporary marking tapes has always been a slow and extremely physical process. The labor involved is slow, exhaustive and demoralizing and places workers in hazardous situations. Many injuries have occurred. A limited number of machines have been developed to mechanize temporary marking tape removal, none of which have been practical. None have been effective. In fact, over the almost 30 years since introduction of temporary marking tapes, no removal machine has ever been produced commercially for sale or use that functions adequately. There has been a long felt need for a functional marking tape removal machine that can facilitate the removal of temporary pavement markings from paved surfaces.
Temporary marking tape used as lane markings is generally supplied in rolls. The rolls vary in length, width and weight. Standard widths can be 4 inches, 6 inches, 7 inches, 8 inches or 12 inches and can weigh up to 70 pounds.
Structurally temporary marking tape includes a top coat, internal netting and an adhesive. It is manufactured in stock rolls that can be from 36 to 42 inches wide and cut into standard usable widths. The stock rolls can be of varying length segments. The ends of adjacent segments of a roll are spliced together in a butt joint to produce a single roll having a desired overall length. When the required length of the tape roll is reached it is cut off and sent for further processing into appropriate widths. A roll of tape often includes multiple splices.
A combination of the top coat and netting provides the maxim pull strength of the tape. At butt joints between adjacent segments of a roll both the top coat and netting are severed. Splice material is used to join the ends of adjacent segments of the rolls together creating a joint area that is weaker than the uninterrupted segments of tape.
In addition to factory splices that join adjacent segments of rolls of tape, when the tape is applied on paved surfaces it is subject to stresses that cause weak points or areas of separation (breakage) to develop. Heavy traffic, turning movements by motor vehicles or construction vehicles can also damage tape and result in breakage. In some instances the damage to the tape can be so severe that it can only be removed manually. Applying the marking tape over expansion dams at bridges creates separation (breakage) of the tape at these areas. Wide pavement joints, heavily tined pavement, pot holes or other surface irregularities all are prone to cause separation (breakage). In any given length of temporary tape that is on a paved surface there can be many weakened points or points of separation (breakage).
Over the more than 35 years since the introduction or temporary marking tape no practical machine has been designed, developed or manufactured that can successfully remove temporary lane marking tapes. Challenges to designing and developing a suitable machine have to account for tape separations/breakage caused by vehicle turning movements, factory splices, wide pavement joints, heavy pavement tinning, texturing, pot holes, or surface irregularities. Since encountering long continuous, uninterrupted lengths of tape is seldom encountered in practice, any acceptable machine has to be able to efficiently remove lengths of tape that are subject to separation (breakage). In addition any machine design needs to be able to operate practically and safely in construction sites/zones in which construction and vehicular traffic flow can be hazardous.
The present invention provides a Motorized Tape Removal Apparatus (MTRA) that is designed and constructed to remove and handle tape has been removed in a manner that reduces the amount of labor and time it has taken in the past to remove and handle the tape. In addition to reducing the amount of time it has taken to handle and transfer removed tape into a dumpster the MTRA of the present invention greatly reduces the volume of removed tape thereby requiring less dumpster space which reduces disposal costs.
The MTRA of the present invention is safe to operate, compact and is designed to remove marking lines that have multiple breaks or weakened points efficiently.
The MTRA of the present invention is configured to allow for the simultaneous removal of adjacent or abutting multiple lines of marking tape. In this regard according to one embodiment the design of the MTRA allows for removable retainer discs to be positioned on the spindle shaft with disposable cores, so that the cores match the tape line widths of adjacent or abutting tape widths to be removed from a paved surface. For example two 4 inch wide lines of tape placed side by side could be removed simultaneously with two cores each matching a 4 inch line with a separation disc between the cores. In another example is a 4 inch line of tape placed on a paved surface next to a 6 inch line of tape could be removed simultaneously using cores matching a 4 inch line take up and a 6 inch line take up with a separation disc between the cores.